Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Tonight on The Huddle, Thomas Scrimgeour from the Maxim Institute and Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  New research out of Australia has revealed the cost of unpaid labour - and it's sparked discussion and backlash. How much housework do we do? Is it more than our partners? Dame Noeline Taurua went out on multiple interviews today, and it's been revealed she didn't know what she did wrong - and she's been reinstated without agreeing to making any changes. What do we make of all this? Does someone need to lose their job?  Z Energy has had to apologise for an ad campaign that claimed they were getting out of the petrol business. Did they really need to apologise over this? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 3 November 2025, Dame Noeline Taurua has raised more questions than answers after her round of interviews. Employment expert Max Whitehead says it's clear Netball NZ has not acted appropriately in the saga. 120 police officers are under investigation for falsifying 30,000 breath tests. Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers explains how this happened.   Media commentator Duncan Greive reacts to news that Simon Dallow will step down after 19 years at the 6pm newsreader desk. Finance Minister Nicola Willis on Andrew Bayly and Westpac's 13% profit rise. Plus, the Huddle debates new research that has quantified the amount of unpaid labour we do in a day. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How is it possible that the Dame Noeline Taurua crisis has actually got worse today? How is it possible that she's got her job back today and this thing has still got worse? I'm getting the impression that Netball New Zealand do not realize how bad this is today. If they don't realize the enormous damage that Dame Noeline has done to them by going on at least three radio interviews and one TV interview and saying repeatedly the same thing -  that she does not know how she was stood down, that there was no investigation to clear her before she was brought back - if they don't realize how enormous this is, I can't explain it to them. They're not responding today to Dame Noels' comments and they're not saying if she's right or wrong.  All we know is that the Netball New Zealand minder who was with her when she was doing the interviews told her to stop telling Mike Hosking that she didn't know why she was stood down. Now let me, for the benefit of everyone - but particularly I think for Netball New Zealand - explain how bad this is. None of us here in this office can think of a single employment disagreement that has been dragged out in public like this for this long with this much interest in it. Not even, I would say, the John Hawkesby-Richard Long case back in the late 90s, which was a really big deal at the time - not even that went on this long and was this badly handled. None of us can also think of a single time when Mike Hosking interviewed someone over four interview slots, which is what happened with Dame Noels this morning. Even during COVID, Jacinda Ardern maybe got three slots maximum. Noeline got four, that's how big this is. It's certainly big enough, I think, for somebody at Netball New Zealand to lose their job now. I'm sorry to say this, because I've got a lot of respect for Matt Whineray, the chair of the board, but I think this is now big enough for him to actually have to consider standing down. Either him or the CEO Jennie Wyllie - or frankly, both of them. Either that or they tell us that Dame Noeline is wrong and that what she said on air this morning was wrong. But if her version of events is right, then what has happened to her is completely unacceptable, and Netball New Zealand must indicate that they think this - that they do not condone this kind of ill treatment of employees because their judgment is now in question. We're all looking at this and thinking - if you can stuff up something this badly, what else are you going to stuff up? They cannot afford for us to not believe in their judgment because they are now far from through the worst of what they're going through, with the financial crisis that they're in and the broadcasting crisis that they're in, right? They have not actually solved their broadcasting problems and they have not saved the domestic competition. If they want us to trust that they know what they're doing, and if they want us to not question them at every single turn, then I'm sorry - someone absolutely has to lose their job over this. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been a busy time in Australia, with Kiwis flying over to see Oasis - prompting speculation about the future of events in New Zealand. The bed tax debate lingers, but the Finance Minister has promised discussions are taking place to bring more events to New Zealand. Nicola Willis says Minister Louise Upston has been working hard behind the scenes to draw in events and get the economy going. "There'll be announcements over the coming months, Louise Upston is in negotiations and there'll be some exciting events coming to a city near you." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's hope for a smooth transition at TVNZ as its shakes up the flagship 6pm news bulletin. Presenter Simon Dallow's stepping down this month after almost two decades - to be replaced by weekend newsreader Melissa Stokes. Media commentator Duncan Greive says TVNZ's made the safe choice, given it's not reaching a lot of new viewers. "If you look at the ratings for ThreeNews, there's not a lot there, they've gone down a bit." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New research out of Australia has revealed the cost of unpaid household labour - and it's a high figure not recognised in economics statistics. These tasks - including cooking, cleaning and caring for family members -are reportedly worth about A$688 billion, according to new reports.  Canberra University economics professor Leonora Risse says many of these tasks are essential services, and most of these are carried out by women. "If we're not recognising it, then what we're doing is we're not recognising women's overall contribution to the economy - the productive activities that hold our economy together. So it's about shining a spotlight on it." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The police have confirmed no review will take place - after it was revealed more than 100 officers are under investigation for falsifying 30,000 tests. The falsified records were only discovered after police built a new algorithm to analyse the data, as the devices themselves cannot distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate tests. Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers says it's unclear what will come out of the employment investigation. "They'll have their own individual investigations now to work through to work out why they did it. I scratch my head, going - what on earth were they thinking? It appears many of them were done on the way from or to legitimate checkpoints." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One expert has made a suggestion Netball New Zealand could be breaching employer obligations in events, including Noeline Taurua's suspension. The Silver Ferns coach is being reinstated, after being stood down in September over player concerns. She says she still doesn’t know why - and and has revealed there was no investigation. Employment expert Max Whitehead says Netball New Zealand shouldn't have acted on this if it couldn't name players or complaints. "The employer has an obligation on good faith and a natural justice to provide her with a name - and what the allegations are." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi says she isn't going anywhere. Te Pāti Māori's President, John Tamihere, has suggested she and Te Tai Tonga MP, Takuta Ferris, should resign from the Party. That's his response to a petition launched by 'Te Tai Tonga Executive'  - calling for his resignation.  He's accusing the two MPs of avarice and entitlement, referencing Hone Harawira’s split from the Party in 2011 - and telling them to do the "honourable thing'. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper recaps the ongoing saga. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over in Australia, new data shows national home values rose 1.1 per cent over the month of October, and 6.1 per cent over the year. All of Australia's major cities saw significant rises, with investors and first home buyers setting records as they tried to outbid each other. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson raises the question of what this data could mean for future rate cuts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.